A Glimmer of Hope
by TouhouEmblem
Summary: Lysandre manages to beat Alex in their final battle. Thankfully, Alex is not dead Lysandre has not been able to reclaim Xerneas. However Alex was captured and is forced to join Team Flare. So it's up to Alex and his friends to save him.


He was sorely losing this battle at this point. Lysandre's Gyarados was annoying to deal with the first two times, but now while it was mega-evolved the battle was just catastrophic. At the beginning of the battle, he had the upper hand with Sylveon against Lysandre's Mienfoo, Honchkrow, and Pyroar. But that Mega-Gyarados of his had taken five of his Pokémon. His Sylveon and Froslass went down with a simple Iron Head while his Delphox and Butterfree couldn't take more than one hit of Aqua Tail. The only one who could withstand a few hits from Mega-Gyarados was his Bellossom but it eventually went down with a few hits from Outrage as well. It was all up to his Azumarill now but because she is a fairy type all Mega-Gyarados needed was probably one more Iron Head. He just prayed that Azumarill could take down Mega-Gyarados. As seconds turned into a minute the first move was made between the two. Azumarill quickly used Play Rough; which hurt Mega-Gyarados but it still didn't faint yet. Azumarill retreated as fast as she could. What surprised him was that Lysandre wasn't giving any commands to his Mega-Gyarados. Then suddenly Lysandre yelled to Mega-Gyarados to use Iron Head. Azumarill barely managed to get out of the way but Mega-Gyarados used Aqua Tail immediately after which caught Azumarill off. Mega-Gyarados sent Azumarill flying; before she could get up from the ground Mega-Gyarados used Iron Head which caused Azumarill to faint. The battle was over and he had lost. Thankfully, Xerneas was still safe since he sent the legendary to his P.C box. Lysandre just grinned maniacally at the fact that the "chosen one", or so Lysandre called him, was beaten by him. Without a seconds moment Mega-Gyarados wrapped his tail around him not relenting his grasp for a second. This was when Serena and Shauna started to worry about the situation that was starting to deteriorate. "Serena we have to do someth-" It was at that moment that Team Flare reinforcements started to enter the room. "Shauna, look around you, we have our own problems to deal with." Ten team Flare members had entered the room to back up their leader. Before Shauna could have done anything to stop it Serena grabbed her arm and she forced her out of the room to retreat. Alex struggled within his oppressive force but it was as hopeless as the situation was. Before he could even think about trying to do anything else he fainted.

When Alex woke up he didn't know how much time had passed; he was just shocked at the fact that he was still alive. The room he was in was a loud white; its voice echoing in every corner of the room. The room seemed a bit familiar but he couldn't exactly place where he remembered it from. He was startled out of his reverie when the door opened. He wasn't expecting the person who was walking through that door. He became disheartened at the implication of seeing the man in the room.

Serena was dreading having to go meet Alex's mother. **What a wonderful thing to tell a mother**. Thought Serena. Having to tell a mother that her son was captured. Having to tell a mother that nobody knows where her son is. Having to tell a mother that there was a large chance that he was probably going to die if he wasn't dead already. First Shauna had stopped talking to her now it would be Alex's mother. Shauna had gotten mad at her for forcing her out of Team Flare's headquarters. She refused to talk to her the moment they escaped. Serena accidently walked into a wall while she was thinking. It hurt so badly. She could feel the blood slowly trickling from her nose. She was going to go to her house to clean it up. She silently thanked Arceus for having an excuse for not having to tell Grace about Alex. When she stood up the Rhyhorn outside Alex's house took notice. It started to make noises to call his master since he recognized her. Before she could leave, the door to Alex's house opened and Grace popped out. "Oh my goodness Serena; come inside; you need to have that looked at." Serena tried to protest but Grace would have none of that. A while passed and she was lying on the floor with a wet towel to her forehead and holding a napkin to her nose. The blood was unrelenting and every now and then she could taste some of the metallic blood. Grace was still worried about her. Her eyes never leaving Serena. Serena was thoroughly embarrassed of this. She didn't want Grace's hospitality she didn't deserve it. She doesn't deserve anything kind happening to her. All she wanted was misfortune to happen to her. As retribution for leaving her friend practically dead. She wanted Grace to yell at her; to tell her to get out of her house. So she finally had at least somewhat resolved to tell Grace. "Grace there's something I need to tell you." Grace just happily replied. "You can tell me later honey. It's not good for you to talk while you're bleeding." Serena breathed exasperatedly. What she needed to tell Grace couldn't wait Grace shouldn't wait. "Grace something happened to Alex." What Grace was dreading was just confirmed. Alex would always visit her every week, and he hadn't visited her for at least three. When she saw Serena she was hoping that Alex would come visit her today. "Serena what happened to him." "Alex was captured by Team Flare and" She paused not being able to admit the awful truth of what she did. "and I just left him." All the melancholy from remembering what she did came back and it came back hard. She was upset when she didn't get the reaction she wanted from Grace. All Grace did was get up from where she was sitting and walk towards the phone. All Serena could hear was the ringing of the phone until someone picked up. She couldn't really hear what the person was saying on the other line. "Hello Valerie. It's Grace." Serena was surprised to hear Grace say the name of the fairy-type gym leader. As much as she wanted to ask Grace what the gym leader was saying she was still too ashamed to say anything else to Grace. "No he's not fine. He's been kidnapped by Team Flare." There was a long pause and it unnerved her that the house was silent. "Okay, thank you." She came back and sat back down on the couch. "Valerie said that she's going to look for Alex." While she was happy that Valerie would help, but she was still puzzled at how she knew Valerie. "How do you know Valerie?" "Valerie is a huge fan of mine and I met her since Alex brought her here after the Poke Ball incidence." Grace just smiled and Serena was wondering what she was going to do. "Serena, don't feel bad for what you did. Your fear got the better of you. If you really want to fix the situation help me find him." Serena cried and got up to hug Grace. Thankfully, more for Graces sake, Serena's nose bleed had stopped quite a while ago. Grace just smile and hugged back never even getting mad at Serena.

Valerie was elated at the fact that her idol the world renowned Rhyhorn racer champion Grace called her. That elation soon went down when she heard that Alex was captured. She thought that he was a pretty good Pokémon trainer. He did, after all, stop Team Flare from stealing all the Poke Balls from the Poke Ball Factory Laverre city was known for. He also managed to beat her and acquire her badge. When she left her house the first thing she had to do was to close the gym. When she had gotten there she wasn't expecting to see quite a bit of people outside the door. She supposed she could at lest battle these few trainers for today. An entire four hours passed and she was exhausted. Out of the thirteen that came only one wasn't strong enough to reach her. For the other twelve nine were easily wiped out completely in her match. While the other three she had to fight tooth and nail which let her reign victorious. After every battle she had to, sadly, inform them that the gym would be closed for an unknown amount of time. When they asked her why she just kept that information disclosed. It was already 4 P.M by the time she left the gym. She also had to break the news to her trainers in her gym. Although they were upset about the news they didn't press there leader since they trusted her. After all the mayhem she went through she had to go pack up her supplies for the journey. She grabbed her Poke Balls that contained her Pokémon and went to the Pokémon Center. After her Sylveon, Mawile, and Mr. Mime had been healed she decided to first head for Lumiose city. As the largest city in the Kalos region it most likely had at least a lead she could go on. So with hat mission set in mind Valerie set of to start her journey to find Alex.

When Alex saw Lysandre walk through that door his worst-case scenario had just come true. He tried to get up from the bed but his injuries from before didn't allow him to. "Don't get up. You'll only hurt yourself." Lysandre sat on the bed that was beside the one Alex occupied at the moment. "And why do you care what happens to me." He tried to get up again in an act of defiance, but Lysandre stood up and pushed Alex back down onto the bed; this elicited a yelp from Alex. "Don't do that again. That really hurt." Lysandre sighed. He was already becoming exasperated from the situation. "The reason I care is because I want you to join Team Flare." Alex just scoffed in response not paying him any more attention after that statement. "And pray tell me why I should assist you before Hell freezes over." This angered Lysandre since he was being laughed at. "You are going to help, but if you don't I just hope your Pokémon will have fun." Alex became pale with the insinuation of the statement. "What do you mean my Pokémon won't have fun?" Lysandre grinned at the bait that he laid out for Alex. What I mean is if that you don't join Team Flare your Pokémon will be punished for your crime." The response he received was not one he was hoping to hear. When he heard Lysandre say crimes he want to lash out at the man for all the awful crimes he had committed, yet here was Lysandre believing that what he was doing was just. He didn't care if he was falling into a trap. He needed to help his Pokémon. "I'll ... I'll join Team Flare." Lysandre smiled a creepy smile but a smile nonetheless. "Thank you for your cooperation." Lysandre left the room; leaving Alex to wallow in the decision he had just made.


End file.
